Meet Tony

ANNCR:

HUMIRA is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis who are ready for systemic therapy or phototherapy, and are under the care of a doctor who will decide if other systemic therapies are less appropriate.

TONY:

My name’s Tony and I’m from Woodland Hills, California. I have a fiancée named Angela. I have a son Zack— the pride and joy of my life. I originally got involved with riding motorcycles probably about 25 years ago, I’d say. You know the whole experience is just really, really a favorite thing for me to do.

It just happened one morning. I woke up and I had all these little dots on my legs. It spread to my elbows, my knees, my arms, my ears. It would be inside my ear, it would be behind my ear. So I did not feel comfortable riding the motorcycle. I had my skin exposed while I rode it. So I ended up going to the doctor. I was diagnosed with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. He started to recommend some different options and different things that I could do. I would rub lotion on me, I would put topical steroids on, and I really couldn’t find anything that worked. I mean it just kept getting worse and worse and worse. There’s a thing called camouflaging. I was really good at wearing things that would cover the psoriasis spots.

The third dermatologist that I went to, I felt like I was finally talking to somebody that got it. This wasn’t just a, you know, a physical thing, that it affected my life.

When she first told me about biologics, and she told me about HUMIRA, because of the relationship that she cultivated with me, I was definitely up for trying HUMIRA and trying biologics.

ANNCR:

In clinical trials, most adults who used HUMIRA for moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance and the majority of people were clear or almost clear in just 4 months. Your results may vary.

HUMIRA can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for TB. Tell your doctor if you’ve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you’ve had TB, hepatitis B, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. Don’t start HUMIRA if you have an infection.

TONY:

It was really amazing to me when I found out that it was an immune disorder. The psoriasis was something from the inside and it manifested on the outside.

So when I started the injections, I was told that it wasn’t going to happen immediately, it wasn’t going to be something that was just going to take a shot and all of a sudden, it was gonna be gone. You know, my skin isn’t as red. I don’t have as much plaque as I did before. I’m not having the treat the outside of my skin nearly as much as I was before. So that got me thinking about “OK I need to call my dermatologist to say what’s happening.” And she said it’s starting to work. I used to spend hours and hours thinking about it every single day. I rarely ever think about psoriasis anymore.

One of my favorite memories, it kind of chokes me up a little bit to think about it. My son was probably about a year old and there was a picture taken. And in the picture, I’m kneeling down and my knees are exposed, my elbows are exposed, I have this huge smile on my face. And that is my favorite picture. It’s on my wall, it’s in a place of honor. I have lots of memorabilia, love sports. That is something that I would never part with.

What I would tell somebody who’s got moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis is that they should absolutely talk to their dermatologist because for me, it made all the difference in the world.